1 Economic Freedom of the World: 2005 Annual Report Fraser Institute Policy Briefing Sultan Qaboos University October 2, 2005

2 THANK YOU FOR COMING! The key to changing policy in the world is changing the climate of opinion about what works and what does not work in encouraging world development The key to changing the climate of opinion is providing the widest possible audience with good information about the causes of development and under-development

3 Economic Freedom of the World Project Objective: find a way to measure economic freedom and explore the connection between it and other variables 20 year project Led by Professor Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman and Michael Walker Involved 100 of the world’s top scholars

4 What is The Economic Freedom of the World Index? u An annual compilation of data representing factors which make a country economically free u Authors: James Gwartney and Robert Lawson u A compendium of 38 government policies affecting economic freedom based on objective data or independent surveys u A ranking of 127 countries representing 93% of the world’s population according to the extent to which they permit their citizens to be economically free u Now a collaboration of Institutes in 68 different countries

5 What is Economic Freedom Individuals have economic freedom when property they acquire without the use of force, fraud, or theft is protected from physical invasions by others and they are free to use, exchange, or give their property as long as their actions do not violate the identical rights of others. An index of economic freedom should measure the extent to which rightly acquired property is protected and individuals are engaged in voluntary transactions. James Gwartney et al. 1996

6 Components of The Economic Freedom of the World Index Size of government and taxation Private property and the rule of law Soundness of Money Trade regulation and tariffs Regulation of business, labour and capital markets Based entirely on objective or third party data for 127 countries

7 Talk about making a difference …

8 African Research Centre for Public Policy Research and Analysis, Kenya Albanian Center for Economic Research (ACER), Albania Alternate Solutions Institute, Pakistan Association for Liberal Thinking, Turkey Association pour la Liberté Economique et le Progrès Social (ALEPS), France Bureau d'Analyse d'Ingenierie et de Logiciels (BAILO), Ivory Coast CATO Institute, USA Causa Liberal, Portugal Center for Economic and Political Research, Azerbaijan The Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Montenegro Center for Free Enterprise, Korea Center for Politiske Studier, Denmark The Center for Research and Communication, Philippines Centre for Civil Society, India The Centre for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge (CEDICE), Venezuela Centre for the New Europe, Belgium The Centre for Research on the National Economy, Guatemala Centro de Investigación para el Desarrollo A.C., Mexico Centro de Investigación y Estudios Legales (CITEL), Peru Centro Einaudi, Italy Centrum im. Adama Smitha, Poland D'Letzeburger Land, Luxembourg Instituto para la Libertad y el Análisis de Políticas, Costa Rica Liberales Institut, Germany Liberales Institut, Switzerland Liberální Institut, Czech Republic Lithuanian Free Market Institute, Lithuania Making Our Economy Right (MOER), Bangladesh The Nassau Institute, Bahamas The New Zealand Business Roundtable, New Zealand Open Republic Institute, Ireland Open Society Forum, Mongolia Pathfinder Foundation, Sri Lanka Research Center for Entrepreneurship and Development Policies, Vietnam Romania Think Tank,Romania Scientific Research Mises Center, Belarus Society for Disseminating Economic Knowledge:“New Economic School – Georgia”, Georgia Szazadveg Policy Research Institute, Hungary TIGRA®, Austria Timbro, Sweden The Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research, Ukraine Zambia Institute for Public Policy Analysis (ZIPPA), Zambia Member Institutes of Economic Freedom of the World Network Economic Policy Institute-Bishkek Consensus, Kyrgyz Republic The Estonian Institute for Open Society Research, Estonia The F.A. Hayek Foundation, Slovak Republic Free Market Center (FMC), Yugoslavia The Free Market Foundation of Southern Africa, South Africa Fundación Economía y Desarrollo Inc., Dominican Republic Fundación Libertad, Argentina Fundación Libertad, Panama Fundación Libertad, Democracia y Desarrollo, Bolivia Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research, Hong Kong ILP - Instituto Libertad y Progreso, Colombia Institut de Recherche pour la Liberte Economique et la Prosperite (IRLEP), Haiti Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, Israel The Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, Indonesia Institute for Market Economics, Bulgaria Institute of Business, Trinidad and Tobago The Institute of Economic Affairs, Ghana The Institute of Economic Affairs, United Kingdom Institute of Economic Analysis, Russia Institute of Economic Studies, Iceland The Institute of Economics, Croatia Institute of Public Affairs, Australia Institute of Public Policy Analysis, Nigeria Instituto Ecuatoriano de Economía Política, Ecuador Instituto Liberal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo, Chile

9 Sample of Press Coverage for Fraser Institute’ Economic Freedom of the World 2004 Agence France Press Al-Ahram Weekly, Jordan All Africa Global Media Arvamus, Estonia Asia Pulse, Hong Kong Asian Wall Street Bahamas Financial Services Board BBC Berlingske, Denmark Business and Finance, Ireland Business Daily, Hong Kong Business Day, South Africa Business Standard, India Canale Italia, Italy Chosun Ilbo, Korea Critica, Panama Cronache, Italy CTK Daily News, Czechoslovakia Dan, Montenegro Dominion Post, New Zealand Dong-a Ilbo, Korea Dow Jones, Germany Dow Jones International Economist El Comercio, Spain El Diario, Chile El Economista, Spain El Nuevo Dia, Spain Examiner, Canada Financial Express, India Forbes Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Herald Sun, Australia Hong Kong Economic Journal Hospodarske, Czech Republic In Copertina, Italy Independent Business Weekly, New Zealand Indian Business Insight Inter Press, Hong Kong International Herald Tribune Investor's Business Daily, US Irish Independent Izvestia, Russia Jakarta Post Jerusalem Post JoongAng Daily, Korea Korea Economic Daily Korea Times La Estrella de Panama La Nacion, Costa Rica La Prensa, Panama L'Adige, Italy Latin America News Digest Latvian News Agency Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore NavHind Times New Zealand Herald News Aktuell Pobjeda, Montenegro Primera, Mexico Publika, Montenegro Segye Times, Korea Seoul Daily, Korea Sing Tao Daily News, Hong Kong South China Morning Post Spanish News Digest Spanish Worldstream Standard, Hong Kong Telegraph, India Times of Oman Washington Times Xinhua News Agency, China

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11 Introducing the 2005 Economic Freedom of the World Index Results

12 Overall Economic Freedom Index and the Top 12 Source: The Fraser Institute.

13 Overall Economic Freedom Index and the Bottom Ten Source: The Fraser Institute.

14 Economic Freedom Over Time Source: The Fraser Institute.

15 Why is Economic Freedom Important? Economic rights are fundamental rights in the sense that without them there can be no political freedom or civil freedoms They are a prerequisite for growth and development They are a prerequisite for broader human development

16 The impact on economic growth and development

17 Income (per person) of the Bottom Ten Income (per person) of the Bottom Ten Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

18 Income (per person) of the Top 12 Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

19 Per Capita Income and Economic Freedom Quintile Least Free …………… Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

20 Growth in Real GDP Per Capita and Economic Freedom Quintile Least Free ……………..….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

21 Economic Freedom and Investment Least Free ……………..….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

22 Economic Freedom and Unemployment Least Free ……………..….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

23 New research: Economic Freedom and Peace

24 Economic Freedom and Peace: 1) the “democratic peace”  Does the concept of a “democratic peace” hold up to scrutiny?  Democracies tend not to go to war with each other but go to war about as often in general as non- democracies.  Developing democracies are as prone as non- democracies to violent conflict.  Thus, “democratic peace” fails close study.

25 Economic Freedom and Peace: 2) the “capitalist peace”  Stable democracies typically have high levels of economic freedom – which promotes peace.  When both are included in a statistical test, economic freedom is 50 times more potent in reducing conflict than democracy.  Nations which score below 2 in the EF index are 14 times more prone to conflict than top scoring nations.  Economically free nations fight each other less and go to war against other nations less as well.

26 Causes of the Capitalist Peace  Wealth and power are created by markets and the efficient production that arises from them, not by conquest of land or raw materials.  Wealth created by market economies through efficient production, unlike wealth derived from land or resources, is difficult for nations to “steal” by violent action.  Efficient production requires property rights and free decisions by market participants that cannot be effectively coordinated to the victor’s advantage.  Markets provide new methods for signaling among nations and create areas in which states can compete without having to go to war.

27 Source: The Fraser Institute.

28 Source: The Fraser Institute.

29 Policy Implications: Efforts to promote democracy may not produce the peace dividend Policy should be to promote economic freedom Economic freedom has been shown to promote democracy over the long term (and many other good outcomes) Therefore, promoting economic freedom will both lead to less conflict and, in the long run, to democracy.

30 Economic Freedom,the Poor, and Inequality

31 Human Poverty Index, 2002, and Economic Freedom Quintile Least Free …………..…. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; United Nations Development Programmme, Human Development Indicators 2004, available at (accessed on July 5, 2005).

32 Income Inequality, Least Free …….. Most Free Percent of income accruing to the Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD- ROM, 2005.

33 Income Share of the Poorest 10% and Economic Freedom Least Free …….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD- ROM, 2005.

34 Per Capita Income of Poorest 10% and Economic Freedom Least Free …….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

35 Economic Freedom, Other Freedoms and Democracy

36 Economic Freedom Versus Corruption 10 =highly corrupt and 0 =highly clean Least Free ………….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2004, available at (accessed on July 5, 2005).

37 Economic Freedom and Voice and Accountability -2.5 =low voice and accountability and 2.5 =high voice and accountability Least Free ………….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank Group, Governance & Anti-Corruption, available at (accessed on July 5, 2005).

38 Political Stability and Economic Freedom -2.5 =low political stability and 2.5 =high political stability Least Free ………..… Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank Group, Governance & Anti-Corruption, available at (accessed on July 5, 2005).

39 Economic Freedom and Political Rights ten representing the highest degree of political rights and zero the lowest Least Free ……………. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; Freedom House, Freedom in the World Country Ratings, 1972 through 2003, available at (accessed on July 5, 2005).

40 Economic Freedom and Civil Liberties ten representing the highest degree of civil liberties and zero the lowest Least Free …….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; Freedom House, Freedom in the World Country Ratings, 1972 through 2003, available at (accessed on July 5, 2005).

41 The impact of Economic Freedom on the UN’s Human Development Index and other indicators of well-being

42 Human Development Index, 2002, and Economic Freedom Quintiles Least Free ……………. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; United Nations Development Programmme, Human Development Indicators 2004, available at (accessed on July 5, 2005).

43 Life Expectancy at Birth and Economic Freedom Quintiles Least Free ……………. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD- ROM, 2005.

44 Infant Mortality and Economic Freedom Quintile Least Free ………..…. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

45 Adult Mortality (2000) and Economic Freedom Quintile Least Free ………..…. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

46 Economic Freedom and Labor force, children (% of age group) Least Free ……………. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

47 % of Population Using Improved Water Sources, 2002 Least Free …………….. Most Free Sources: The Fraser Institute; The World Bank, World Development Indicators CD-ROM, 2005.

48 The Arab World

49 Area 1: Size of Government

50 Area 2: Rule of Law

51 Area 3: Sound Money

52 Area 4: Freedom to Trade

53 Area 5: Regulations

54 Overall Score

55 Compared to top 12

56 Oman’s Profile

57 Arab Overview

58 Arab World Conclusions Arab nations have closed the gap with world average or moved ahead But this reflects two trends – Gulf states typically high and gaining in economic freedom – Other Arab states backsliding or stagnant, except for gains by Jordan Gulf states typically in or close to the top 12 Rest of Arab world must continue progress to reach top 12

59Conclusions Economic Freedom spurs Increased prosperity for all Poverty reduction Other freedoms Reduces Probability of War Quality of life improvements All this can be seen in today’s data and lessons from history